Low-key $10,000 gift suits charity just fine

By L.M. Sixel |
October 10, 2012
| Updated: October 10, 2012 6:21pm

Steven Cook, The Men's Warehouses' Vice President of Community Relations, front installs clothing pipes along the walls of Career Gear's new location, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in the Plaza de Americas mall in Houston. Career gear is a nonprofit place for men to get a free business suit for job interviews. The agency received a $10,000 check from a couple from The Woodlands to help relocate. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle )

Photo By Nick de la Torre

Steven Cook, a Men's Wearhouse executive﻿, front, and Harold Victoria set up Career Gear's new office in the PlazAmericas mall. The charity, moving to larger space thanks in part to a $10,o00 donation, provides free business suits to men for job interviews.

Photo By Nick de la Torre

Harold Victoria, The Men's Warehouses' maintenance manager, installs brackets for clothing pipes along the walls of Career Gear's new location, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, in the Plaza de Americas mall in Houston. Career gear is a nonprofit place for men to get a free business suit for job interviews. The agency received a $10,000 check from a couple from The Woodlands to help relocate. ( Nick de la Torre / Houston Chronicle )

The space was so cramped there was no room to display shoes. There was only one dressing room. And Career Gear Houston was nowhere close to any of the main bus routes, which made it difficult for clients to get there.

The volunteers who run the community closet for men down on their luck were doing what they could to put them in suits for job interviews. They knew if they could move to PlazAmericas, the former Sharpstown Mall site, they could have twice the usable space for less rent, plus ample storage, three dressing rooms and easy bus access.

However, the cost of installing carpet and paying the moving expenses seemed prohibitive. The nonprofit organization operates on a shoestring budget of $30,000 a year.

Then, a couple of days after a story about the financial problems appeared in the Chronicle, the volunteer-run program received a windfall: an out-of-the-blue personal check for $10,000 from a couple in The Woodlands.

"I think I was going to faint," recalled Donna Reasonover, executive director of Career Gear Houston, which outfits men in business suits before they go on job interviews.

The men are referred through social-service agencies such as Goodwill, SEARCH and SER-Jobs for Progress.

Reasonover said she opened the envelope from the day's mail and started screaming.

Helping with the move

The couple don't want recognition for the generosity - they have not returned calls from Reasonover - but said in a note that they wanted some of the money to be used for the move.

Reasonover wasted little time, choosing carpet and arranging the move. A couple of weeks ago, Steven Cook, vice president of community relations/corporate giving for Men's Wearhouse, and its maintenance manager, Harold Victoria, were installing wall racks to hang the donated suits, shirts, ties and belts.

Some of the clothing and accessories come from people who cleaned out their closets; some come from Men's Wearhouse.

In a nationwide donation drive this summer, people dropped off 130,000 items of men's clothing, including 33,000 suits at Men's Wearhouse locations around the country. Cook said that set a record for the five-year effort.

In Houston, the chain collected 4,200 items, including 880 suits.

Men's Wearhouse also donated shelving it no longer needed after renovations. Cook tracked down discontinued chrome rectangular racks from stores as far away as Atlanta. He put on his blue jeans and helped Victoria measure and drill.

Victoria was proud to help. "I've been there," he said. "This is great for people who need the lift."

Cook said Career Gear's goal is to get enough volunteers to open daily instead of just two days a week. If every social-service agency that sends clients is able to send a volunteer once a month, that would help, he said.

Dressing thousands

Career Gear got its start in Houston in 2004 when a Welfare to Work grant manager was having a hard time finding interview suits for men. Women could go to Dress for Success for a business suit, but there was no place for men.

Career Gear in New York ended up sending 200 new Brooks Brothers suits to launch the affiliate in Houston.

Career Gear has provided suits to about 5,000 men since 2004; this year it expects to suit about 660 men.

Thursday is the first day that men will get suited in the new location. Reasonover is planning a grand-opening celebration later this year.

She hopes the couple from The Woodlands will come to celebrate, but she suspects they want to stay behind the scenes.